Marpai is a junior league health care plan administrator whose stock, MPAI, jumped 90% on Thursday. Presumably because people found out it uses AI
Marpai (NASDAQ: MRAI) stock was up 90% Thursday. It's difficult to see exactly why this is as there's not much news around and that there is doesn't seem all that interesting. But it does have AI in the corporate name and as we know there's something of an excitement about this new technology. We assume, in the absence of other evidence, that this is what is causing the excitement. Whether that is therefore justified, well, that's a matter for the reader, obviously.
Other reasons for Marpai's jump are difficult to find. The most recent corporate announcement was of the annual general meeting and the re-election of the directors. No, that's not the sort of news which doubles a stock price. Well, it doesn't normally at least. Before that there was the annual results and while the purchase of Maestro Health is expanding the client base and revenues it doesn't seem to be doing all that much for the bottom line. Losses for the full year 2022 rose to $51.3 million from the previous year's $30.1 million. This is also not the sort of thing that doubles share prices and anyway that announcement was back on March 29th.
Our assumption is therefore that this is all about the “AI” part of the corporate name. Or, as MRAI itself puts it: “The Most Advanced AI Transforming Self-Funded Employer Healthcare”.
Just to remind, Americans tend to get their healthcare through their employer. The majority of this is done with an insurance or other company managing the plan but the employer carrying all of the financial costs and risks. Thus the health of the workforce is a considerable risk for the employer. Adding AI into this to manage that general health and thereby reduce costs and risks sounds like a perfectly sensible idea.
We're deeply unsure this is worth a near doubling of a stock price in the one day though. Our assumption is therefore that this MRAI 90% rise is a bit of speculative froth. Investors are trading that fashion for AI rather than the particular and actual prospects of Marpai itself.
Allarity Therapeutics, Inc. (“Allarity” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing novel oncology therapeutics together with drug-specific DRP®companion diagnostics for personalized cancer care, today announced that an abstract on the Company’s proprietary DRP®technology has been accepted for a poster presentation at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
Researchers will present the data at the ASCO meeting taking place June 2-6 online and in person at the McCormick Place in Chicago. The poster shows the final data from a phase 2 study evaluating the ability of the DRP® companion diagnostic for cisplatin to prospectively identify patients with metastatic breast cancer that are likely to respond to treatment with LiPlaCis®, a targeted liposomal formulation of cisplatin. Allarity conducted the study in collaboration with investigators at hospitals in Denmark, as well as its CRO Smerud Medical Research International AS. The LiPlaCis program is currently licensed to Chosa Oncology AB for further clinical development.
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg should “immediately cancel” plans to let minors enter his fledgling “Horizon Worlds” metaverse because it could put them at risk of online abuse, a group of more than 70 online children’s safety groups and other experts said in an open letter Friday.
“Getting teens to use the platform is essential to Meta’s bottom line because they are potential life-long users, and their presence and support can make the platform seem trendy,” the letter says. “But what may be good for your bottom line may be incredibly harmful to young people.”
The letter cited a report compiled last month by the Center for Countering Digital Hate.
Titled “Horizon Worlds Exposed,” the report found underage users are already active on the free, online game and that they are “routinely exposed to harassment and abuse — including sexually explicit insults and racist, misogynistic, and homophobic harassment — and other offensive content.”
The group’s report said researchers identified at least 19 instances of abusive content aimed at minors in their 100 visits to “Horizon Worlds,” which currently enacts an 18-and-up age limit.
The open letter cited an internal memo reported by the Wall Street Journal in February which revealed that executives at Facebook’s parent company were now planning to open “Horizon Worlds” to users aged 13 to 17.
The letter’s signatories included a total of 36 organizations and 37 individual experts, including the Center for Countering Digital Hate, Fairplay and Common Sense Media. Bloomberg was first to report on the letter.
Meta’s app is called “Horizon Worlds.”
Zuckerberg is apparently pushing forward with his metaverse expansion during a period of unprecedented scrutiny on Capitol Hill and beyond about social media’s harmful effects on underage users.
Meta, TikTok and other platforms have been pilloried by lawmakers for failing to put adequate safeguards in place to shield children from harmful content and online abuse.
Launched in 2021, the multiplayer game allows users to move and interact with each other in various virtual worlds that host events, games and social activities.
The game works on Oculus Rift S and Meta Quest 2 headsets.
Critics say underage users are exposed to harmful content in the metaverse.Getty Images
“It’s beyond appalling that Mark Zuckerberg wants to save his failing ‘Horizons World’ platform by targeting teens,” Fairplay executive director Josh Golin said in a statement. “Already, children are being exposed to homophobia, racism, sexism, and other reprehensible content on Horizon Worlds.”
The groups argue that Meta should “wait for more peer-reviewed research on the potential risks of the metaverse to be certain that children and teens would be safe.”
Mark Zuckerberg has poured billions into the metaverse.
Meta spokesperson Joe Osborne said the firm was taking steps to safeguard underage users from harmful content within the metaverse.
“Before we make Horizon Worlds available to teens, we will have additional protections and tools in place to help provide age-appropriate experiences for them,” Osborne said in a statement.
“Quest headsets are for people 13+ and we encourage parents and caretakers to use our parental supervision tools, including managing access to apps, to help ensure safe experiences,” Osborne added.
Meta is facing blowback from online safety experts.Getty Images
The testimony included a damning account of how teenage girls active on Instagram are bombarded with harmful content, including images promoting anorexia and other body image disorders.
The latest pushback from online safety experts represents another headache from Zuckerberg, who has poured billions into metaverse technology.
A Los Angeles business owner is calling on officials to take action to remove a homeless encampment in her area that she says has nude inhabitants and is deterring customers.
The woman, who asked to be identified only as “Debra,” told Eyewitness News that she has owned a hair business near San Vicente Boulevard in Beverly Grove for two decades, but issues with the nearby unhoused population increased more recently.
“I have a nice clientele, but now my clientele is getting to the point where they just don’t feel comfortable,” she said, noting that she is also nervous to stay open past 6 p.m.
One photo taken on Tuesday shows a naked woman lounging on a couch at the encampment.
“I saw the couch one day out there and I think, ‘Oh my God,'” Debra recalled.
“The next day, I came back and see she’s all over the couch and she’s just naked. She was crying. I felt bad for her, you know? I wanted to like give her something to cover up but I felt like if I do the little things, then I’ll have everyone coming and asking for help.”
Debra noticed the naked woman lounging in the encampment this week.ABC7
Debra explained to Eyewitness News that she called her councilmember about the issue, but has not received a reply.
Locals are also quick to point out the disparity between conditions in Los Angeles-adjacent section of Beverly Grove and its upscale neighbor, Beverly Hills.
While sidewalks on the Los Angeles side of the shopping center are reportedly littered with tents and trash, the Beverly Hills area is pristine.
Locals complain that the streets near the Beverly Center in Los Angeles are littered with tents.ABC7
“There’s nothing in Beverly Hills,” business owner Mike Terani complained to ABC7.
“Right when you come over in L.A., that’s where nobody can do anything and nobody cares.”
Dr. Kenneth Wright, who owns a medical practice on the block, backed up Terani’s claims, and says LAPD officers have told him there is nothing they can do about the situation.
“I talked to the officer — he’s a great guy — he says, ‘Look, they tell me from the mayor’s office, they tell me from my chief, to leave them here,'” Wright said.
Police are reportedly not handling the homelessness situation.ABC7
“’We’re not enforcing vagrancy laws here.’”
Wright also showed the outlet photos of a homeless encampment behind his office that eventually went up in flames, costing him $25,000 in damages.
“Luckily nobody was hurt, but the smoke went into my medical office building. We had to shut down for two weeks,” he lamented.
But Va Lecia Adams Kellum, the new CEO of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, told the outlet that Los Angeles’ unhoused crisis is the same as other cities.
“What we hear is that the encampment problem is everywhere and that all the cities are feeling it,” she said.
Shares forJPMorgan Chaseare up on Friday after the biggest U.S. bank by assetsreportedfirst quarter profits that beat Wall Street predictions.
Overall revenue increased 25% to $38.3 billion. Net revenue rose 25% to $39.3 billion, including $868 million of net investment securities losses.
Gross investment banking revenue was $881 million, up 21%.
Meanwhile, average loans went up 6%; average deposits slipped 8%.
JPMorgan delivered $4.10 in earnings per share (EPS), beating the consensus for earnings of $3.41 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan chair and CEO, said, "Consumer spending remained healthy with combined debit and credit card sales up 10% and card loans up 21%."
"The U.S. economy continues to be on generally healthy footings, consumers are still spending and have strong balance sheets, and businesses are in good shape. However, the storm clouds that we have been monitoring for the past year remain on the horizon, and the banking industry turmoil adds to these risks," he added. "Financial conditions will likely tighten as lenders become more conservative, and we do not know if this will slow consumer spending."
Favorable safety and tolerability profile related to OCU400 investigational product candidate
Initial clinical data from low and medium dose cohorts indicates positive trend in Multi-luminance mobility testing and Best-Corrected Visual Acuity scores for OCU400 treated eyes
71.4% (5/7) of OCU400 treated eyes in low and medium dose cohorts experienced at least 1 Lux luminance level improvement in mobility test from baseline
66.7% (2/3) of OCU400 treated eyes in low dose cohorts at 9-month follow-up experienced at least 2 Lux luminance level improvement in mobility test from baseline
Ocugen believes these preliminary data supports potential of modifier gene therapy platform in gene-agnostic treatment of complex and heterogenous inherited genetic diseases
Marpai stock price from NASDAQ
